


Family Knows Best

by Madmyers13



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, klance, pinning, realistic for teenagers, sibling knows all, siblings relationship, slowburn, veronica knows all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 11:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15662550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madmyers13/pseuds/Madmyers13
Summary: After defeating Sendak and a giant robot, Lance was thankful for a day off he could spend with his sister without worrying about her dying.





	Family Knows Best

**Author's Note:**

> WELCOME  
> I don't expect this to get a lot of views but this was just a fun little thing for me to write after season 7 and n anticipation for season 8  
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> NOTES TO READ  
> ~~~~  
> -Veronica is canonly an over-observant sister  
> -Keith has been seen to be bad at talking  
> -I tried to be as realistic to the show as I could

Lance was anything but pleased with the stiffness in his body and how his muscles still ache every time he moved. They begged for the cryopod to fix him and make him numb and sleep for a few days.

It had been months since defeating the threats to Earth, and the help of other alien races had put less of a strain on him. He was thankful that the Balermians had placed a Balerma right next to them like a second moon and was thankful to the Olkari for making devices out of rock to help do more of the heavy lifting to help lessen the load on the Paladins.

 

It had been months and today was their one day for a break.

 

It was announced to them by Shiro and Iverson when they trudged out of their sleeping quarters for a too early morning briefing that always left them more tired than when they woke up. Lance was thankful that the Garrison had given away their rooms to a younger generation because it meant the Paladins got a Faculty room where it was only theirs and they didn’t have to share half the space with someone else.

But it didn’t take long for them to fall into old patterns.

Like how after two weeks of being cooped up in their hospital rooms Lance convinced Pidge and Hunk to sneak up to the roof to go stargazing. They both complained saying they’d seen enough stars up close for a lifetime, but that didn’t stop the trio from going up and finding Keith, Krolia, Allura, and Coran already up there.

So the announced of a day for a small break in routine for the Paladins made them ecstatic. Pidge was already pulling on Sam and Matt to try a new coding tool she learned from a race helping Earth become a symbol of peace. Hunk was on the phone with his parents almost as soon as Shiro stopped talking and was already setting up a lunch with them. Allura was taking Coran and Romelle to try to speak to the new Altean that had landed. The last person to leave the conference room was Lance, who had been too busy wondering how soft Alluras hair was to worry about what they were saying.

When Keith whacked his shoulder is when he snapped out of his daze and glared at him. Something in his chest tightened at the small bit of contact, but Lance pushed it off as just another feeling he got.

“Look sharp. We might be able to take it easy today but we don’t know when the universe will need Voltron.” Keith glared into Lance, sighing as Lance only rolled his eyes and stood up.

He expected it to be like before when he was standing, how he could always see over the top of Keith's head just by the tiniest bit, but now his eyes only land on the small knitch in Keiths eyebrows. Lance crosses his arms, walking out of the conference room while waving his hand.

“Yeah, yeah. A universe defender is always on duty.”

“Lance where are you going?” Shiro asked, his voice held with a small tremor of worry.

Lance yawns slightly. “To go get some more beauty sleep.”

  
~.~.~.~.~

 

His beauty sleep doesn’t last long. It seemed like the universe he was protecting was against him that day because minutes after his head hit the pillow and his eyes started to feel heavy again, a large slam came from his door. He jumped at the sound, grabbing the Bayard he kept at his nightstand and holding the sniper to the person in front of him. He lifted his head up slightly, groaning as the red gun shifted back to its holster.

“I coulda killed you.”

“Whatever,” Veronica laughed. “Go on a walk with me.”

“Why?” Lance groaned, hitting his head back onto his pillow with a soft thud. He pulled his arms underneath it, squeezing his eyes shut as he heard his sister chuckle.

“Lance you’ve been so busy for the past few months that whenever you get a break you play with our niece and nephew and bond with Luis and Marco.”

“I spend time with Mom and Dad too,” Lance groaned, more awake then he had been that morning.

“But you don’t spend time with me outside missions so get your lazy butt up so we can go for a walk.”

Lance groaned, lifting his body from his bed before running his hands down his face. “Fine but only because you woke me up.”

“I aim to annoy,” Veronica grinned, grabbing Lances wrist as he fumbled with the belt on his Garrison uniform. Some days he missed wearing his green jacket and blue jeans, but the uniform was a nice change from the clothes he had to spend a year in.

Before he could buckle it Veronica was pulling him through the Garrison and into the concrete jungle of cement flooring outside. Lance yanked his wrist away from his sister, glaring at her as he fixed his pants then pulled his shirt down over his belt slightly. He crossed his arms and pouted, hearing his sister laugh slightly.

He hated to admit it to her, but he missed her laugh and the way it made her nose scrunch up slightly and she would get tiny wrinkles in the corners of her eyes.

He missed the sight of joy on his families face. It had been too long away from him.

He also wouldn’t admit that he was glad she pulled him out of bed to spend a day with him.

“So,” Lance lead on, pulling his hands behind his head as the two took the pathway through the Garrisons fields. They weren’t anything special, just small patches of grass laying in the middle of a concrete jungle. “What did you want to talk about?”

“How was space?”

“Awesome. I went to a lot of amazing planets and met a lot of people.”

“Favorite planet?” Veronica lifted a brow, holding her hands behind her back. Their walking was slow, in no need to rush into battle or fight someone new.

“Oh!” Lance smiled widely, and Veronica can’t help but note how happy he is talking about the planet he saved on his own. “There was this underwater planet filled with mermaids. Like filled, Veronica! You wouldn’t believe how cool it was!”

She listened intently, but her ears failed her when she saw her brothers smile, leading onto the next story about space that was almost a five-year-old story for her, but a year old for him.

“Then Nyma chained me to this tree thing and I was stuck there for hours! Then I hear from my helmet that Keith got my lion back!” Veronica notes the small amount of blush that curses her brother's cheeks at the sound of his leader's name. “Keith! Of all people!”  
“How did you get untied?” Veronica asked. “From the tree...thing.”

“Oh,” Lance nervously grinned, and she saw her brother shrink down slightly, the pink on his face becoming darker just by a little. “Keith dropped my lion off and cut me free.”

Her eyes trailed forward, a small smile of enjoyment on her lips. “Hmmm.”

“What?” Lance lifts a brow.

“You sound like you had fun.”

“Except for the part where I got exploded and almost died, then really died, then almost died again--”

“I’m sorry what were the first and third things?” Veronica stops them in the pathway, watching as Lance scratches the nape of his neck.

“I got exploded. We were leaving Arus and a fake Rover--Pidges old robot friend--exploded in the haul of the Castle of Lions. I jumped in front of Coran so he wouldn’t get hurt.”

“And then dying?” Veronica’s voice is strained when she says the word. She couldn’t see her brother dead, not in a million years. She couldn’t imagine his long limbs stilled, his eyes never blinking and his chest not heaving with life.

She refused to believe it. Lance nods once. “I pushed Allura away from a radioactive sunbeam. She brought me back to life before my soul could get too far away.”

Veronica was speechless for a moment longer then Lances liking because he turned on his heel and started walking off. Veronica was frozen in her spot for a moment before running after Lance. She looked at her brother, watching as he definitely looked worse for wear. When around family, she saw he was a goofball as usual, and with the team, he was just as so unless the situation was terrible.  
And god did she not like the face Lance had on in those moments. She could barely tell that it was her little brother. The bags under his eyes were more dominant, his lips in a scowl and his eyebrows knitted together. She didn’t like that he was wearing that look now.

“Do you wanna--”

“I’m fine, Veronica,” Lance sighed, giving his sister a force half smile, only one side of his mouth bothering to curl into a smile. “It happened over four years ago, so why should it matter.”

“Because you _died,_ Lance.” She says the word louder then meaning too, feeling the eyes of the people around them glue to them. She can tell Lance feels people staring, because he stiffens his shoulders up, standing slightly taller as if to ward off anyone who tried to ask him about it. “Doesn’t that scare you?”

“Of course it does but every war takes some sacrifices--”

“Not when the sacrifice is another Paladin.” Both turn to the voice, looking at Keith as he stands with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his weight on his left hip with what seemed to be sweat making his shirt stick to his body. Both looked past him slightly as Griffin and Kinkade sitting on a grassy spot, throwing a water bottle and towel back and forth. Drink, splash on the face, wipe it off and repeat.

Veronica watched as Lance shook away the blush on his face.

“I mean I can be replaced--”

“This team needs you, Lance. Don’t think that a sacrifice like someone who can end a war is important to stop a war. What if Allura couldn’t bring you back?” Keiths eyes pierce Lance's skin and Veronica is just silently watching them. Lance doesn’t speak, and Keith sighs.

Veronica watches as Keith's hand takes Lances shoulder, and the boy relaxes into the touch. It looks like it was rehearsed to Veronica. Like it was done a thousand times and became an automatic response. How from the simple padding of Keith's hand let Lance's shoulder drop from their tensed position and made his back slouch down. She watches Lance let out a soft breath while Keith squeezes his shoulder.

“You need to be more careful. We can’t lose another life in this war.” Keith walks off and towards Griffin and Kinkade, who stood up upon Keith's return.

Veronica watches Keith for a moment before watching as two swords are suddenly in his hands and Griffins and Kinkade are lying on their back with the swords at their throats. She looks at Lance, a soft grin growing to a large one at the sight of the pink blush on Lance's cheeks and how his jaw is held slightly open.

“So,” she clears her throat and Lance looks at his sister. “How long?”

“How long...what?” Lance asks back, his eyes darting from one of his sister's eyes to the other.

“Have you and Voltron Leader Keith been a thing,” Veronica smirks as she watches Lance sputter uncontrollably, unable to form words before pointing a finger at her chest, poking her collarbone as his face flushes to a dark red.

“Keith and I are not a thing.”

“So then what are you two?” Veronica laughed as she walked off slightly and sat on a bench nailed to the concrete. Lance sat next to her.

“We’re nothing, Veronica. Just teammates.”

“Just teammates isn’t believable when he has an overwhelming confidence in you that you belong to the land of the living.” Veronica giggled and Lance groaned, leaning forward and holding his face in his hands. “C’mon, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about--”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about!” Lance slightly yells over her. “I don’t like Keith okay?!”

Veronica stared at her brother for a moment. Watching as his beautiful brown Cuban face is now covered in a deep shade of red, his eyes looking on the borderline of crazy and glee. His hair is longer than she last remembered it being, but then again he was an eighteen-year-old when he should have been twenty-one by now.

Three years of nothing from him, a year in space and then months of space travel. He looked much better than she expected him to be for someone who has seen death and back.

She softly smiled. “I’m your big sister, I see things you don’t.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” Lance pouts, glaring at his sister. She can’t suppress her laughter at his face, hearing him groan then shake her as she held her stomach. “What do you see that I don’t!” Lance shook her as Veronica slowly stopped laughing, looking at her brother with a small grin.

“I see the way you and the Princess look at each and how you are starting to not look at her the way you did when you first came back.” Veronica's eyes traveled over Lances facial features until her eyes traveled to the scene of Keith beating Kinkade and Griffin in battle practice. She saw Lance look at him too. “I see how you worry over us more. Like how when I got hurt and the cruiser rolled over you shot at that fighter plane even though it did nothing. You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you.”

“War does that to you,” Lance shrugged his shoulders, leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. He watched quietly as Kosmo was suddenly at Keith's side with a stick in Keith's hand. He watched as Keith threw it and Kosmo didn’t go after it, which lead to Griffin and Kinkade laughing. Lance softly smiled.

“I see how you’ve got a soft spot for your leader.”

“I do not--”

“Pidge told me that you voted for him in that weird game show thing,” Veronica eyed Lance slightly. “She didn’t explain much but she said you said Keith was the future.”

“He’s Galra and human, if he can bring a stop to a war it’s him.” Lance elaborated, but Veronica scoffed.

“That’s such a lie.”

“It is not!” Lance turned to his sister, blush scattering onto his face again.

“I notice that you blush a lot when Keiths around or mentioned.”

“I don’t--”

“Admit it, Lance, being back on Earth you’re not seeing what you once saw in Allura.” Veronica watched as Lance's face seemed to drop. She sighed, lowering her head slightly before turning back and watching Keith train Kinkade and Griffin in hand to hand combat. “Look, I don’t know what happened in space for you, a-and I wish I did. It sounds terrifying to have to save a planet all on your own and to be drifting in space fighting a war. It sounds scary to die, and I’m glad you’re alive and I’m sure your team is too.”

“They don’t know I died,” Lance mumbled. Veronica looked to her brother, worry knitting in her face. Lance looked at his lap, playing with a string on his sleeve. “Allura saved me and that was that. It wasn’t addressed to the others, and I’m surprised Keith took it so well just now.”

Veronica sighed, looking back at Keith as Griffin tried to punch his jaw but Keith swiveled on his left foot, grabbed Griffin's arm and flipped him onto his back.

“It still sounds scary, but I know everyone is glad you’re alive. From what I’ve been seeing from you for my whole life if you fall in love too easily. You pick a girl to swoon over for a while until someone else grabs your attention. You haven’t always been the smartest in school, you always got above average grades but you never made fighter class until Keith dropped out. I know you always feel like a rebound.”

Veronica was silent for a moment, looking at Lance before noticing he was mumbling out words, his eyes locked on Keith.

“What?” She asked.

He looked at her then his lap, scratching the back of his neck. “Oh uh, nothing… just you’ve been watching Keith fighting and…”

“And what?” Veronica lifted a brow.

“He’s going to grab Kinkade's shoulder, knee his stomach then flip and hold him to the ground on his stomach while holding his left wrist.” Veronica slowly turned her head back to Keith, watching as he did what Lance said. “I’ve been watching him fight for a while. If he doesn’t have a sword, he plays dirty.”

Veronica softly smiled. “Listen, Lance, I know you don’t want to hear this but I think you’ve got the hots for Keith.”

“W-What!” Lance shot his head up, glaring at his sister. “I do not have the--”

“Lance you planned out his way of fighting before he did it. A right-hand man knows what to do, but someone whos interested can plan out what the other is going to do it before they do it.”

“I don’t like Keith,” Lance mumbled. He brought his head up, glaring at Veronica before bellowing, “So shut your Quiznack!”  
“You’re still using that word wrong!” Keith shouted back.

“Shut it, Keith!” Lance shouted back. Veronica watched as Lance stood up from the bench and Keith crossed his arms.

“What are you gonna stick me a wormhole?” Keith chuckled as Kosmo disappeared from his spot on the ground to Lances side. Veronica's eyes widened slightly as Kosmo appeared slightly in the sky the disappeared again and back on the ground. Lance fell from where Kosmo dropped him, Keith laughing as Lance landed on the ground with a thud.

“Control Kosmo you psycho!”  
“I told you we’re not naming him Kosmo.” Keith chuckled slightly. Veronica stood up from the bench and helped Lance stand.

“We decided as a group--”

“It’s my wolf!”  
“It was eight against one Keith and majority rules.” Lance smugly smiled, but Veronica could see the blush on Lance's cheeks.

“Whatever,” Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“And just so you know I did stick you in a wormhole,” Lance smirked. “When we ejected Black through to get to Lotor generals.”

“You didn’t stick me in a wormhole if you didn’t physically push me through.”

“I will have Allura pull one open right now to--”

“It won’t matter anyway,” Keith furrowed his brows. Lance went quiet for a moment before a playful smirk appeared on Keiths lips. “Because I’m still better at combat than you.”

“Says you! I have a blaster, and a sniper and an Altean Broadsword!” Lance smiled widely, proud of himself. Veronica had to admit, that she was proud of him too. “So take that!”

Keith rolled his eyes. “There’s no way our Sharpshooter can have a sword,” Lance parted his lips slightly, his face slightly falling. “I need you to have my back.”

Veronica softly smiled at the small amount of blush on both Keith and Lances faces. “Yo Keith!” Griffin yelled. “Are you slacking off?”  
“You wish!” Keith yelled back, looking down at Kosmo. The wolf slightly nodded before teleporting to Griffin and pushing him down to the ground, sending Kinkade into a burst of laughter. “I should get back to training.”

“Are you really spending your day training?” Veronica asked. “Who knows when you’ll get this much time off again.”

“With my Mom and Shiro working on the Atlas to make it fully operational again with Kolovan, I got nothing better to do.” Keith shrugged his shoulders.

“Why don’t you bond with your lion?” Veronica asked. “There has to be something better you can do than fight.”

“Black and I are already bonded, the one I would suggest bonding with their Lion is Lance,” Veronica looked at Lance as he looked down slightly. “Red was late to taking down that Ziforge canon. You could have died.”

“I...alright,” Lance muttered before turning on his heel and walking away. Veronica and Keith watched for a moment as Lance walked away.

“Lance where are you--”

“Gotta go bond with my Lion,” Lance muttered before Veronica could finish speaking.

“What’s been up with him lately?” Veronica asked, looking at Keith. “Every since you guys came back he’s been acting so different.”

“It's what being in a war does to you.” Keith shrugged his shoulders. Veronica shook her head.

“No, he looks, more upset? I don’t know, but he hasn’t been smiling as much.”

“He smiles all the time, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Keith shrugged his shoulders again, turning around to Kinkade and Griffin and glaring as Kosmo was getting petted for days by them. “No! Bad cosmic wolf! You were supposed to attack!”

“Should I talk to him?” Veronica asked, Keith, turning around to her. “I-I think I set a nerve off in him.”

“How?”

“I kind of pointed out that he’s been losing his affection for the Princess,” Veronica sighed, watching as a small amount of blush on Keiths cheeks appeared. She noted that. “Think I may have made him upset.”

“Lance has been going after the Princess since day one, and I’m not surprised he’s just now realizing she’s not interested.”

“Oh yeah, and who is?” Veronica lifted a brow, a small smirk on her lips.

“I-I don’t know,” Keith looked down at his wolf as Kosmo nudged his leg. “I think some of the fighter pilots look up to him.”

Veronica hummed, sighing dramatically before turning on her heel. “Well, I need to talk to my baby brother. Would you like to join?”

“Uh sure,” Keith nervously grinned before turning around to Kinkade and Griffin. “I gotta go. Don’t slack while I’m gone.”

“Whatever.” Griffin rolled his eyes.

“I will have Iverson give you a total of 200 laps, Griffin. Don’t test me.”

“I could do it in fifteen minutes.”

“I could do it in twenty ticks,” Keith smirked before turning around and walking behind Veronica. She slowed down to his side. She looked at him slightly.

“Whats a tick?”

“A time splice a little bit faster than a second,” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “Time in space moves differently, but every other planet we went to used those time signatures so we’ve just been using them for a while.”

Veronica nodded. “Also, what does Quiznack mean?”

“I think Coran said it’s Earth equivalent to the worst version of dang it.”

“So it means--” Keith nodded before Veronica could finish. She hummed slightly as they entered the Garrison, walking to where the Lions were kept. “How was space,” Keith looked over to Veronica after a moment of silence. “In your opinion?”

“Space was an adventure, to say the least,” Keith sighed. “I piloted Red then Black then left for the Blades of Marmora. I found my Mom and spent two years with her.”  
“Were you outside of the blast?”

“It’s...complicated.” Keith nervously chuckled. “But space was fine. We met a bunch of new species and explored so many cultures. It was truly amazing, but I could never take it all in because in the back of my mind I’ve always been thinking of this war.”

“Did you save any planets by yourself? Lance went on about this mermaid planet.” Veronica laughed slightly as the two came upon where the Lions were kept.

“No, I didn’t. But I saved Lance a couple times,” Keith chuckled slightly. Veronica nodded. They looked up to the Red Lion, her eyes glowing and head up high but not taking off.

“You think he’s bonding?”

“Probably.” Keith shrugged his shoulders. “You should try going in and talking to him.”

Veronica nodded and walked to the Lion. She looked up at it slightly before sighing. “Lance! Lance, it’s Veronica! Let me come in! You’re supposed to spend a day with me!”  
Silence filled the air, then a static crackle. “I don’t have to spend the day with you.”

“Yes, you do! Mom said you did!” Veronica yelled, a smug grin on her face as Keith tried to suppress his laughter.

“Ugh, fine.” Reds head lowered and her jaw opened. Veronica flinched back for a moment before looking over at Keith who nodded.

Veronica gulped before walking into the jaw and hearing it close behind her and feeling the head lift as she walked through it. She walked through the cargo pit and to the cockpit. She watched lance silently for a moment, watching as he gripped his controls until his knuckles were white, his chest heaving with deep breaths with his eyebrows knitted together and eyes closed tightly. His nose was scrunched up slightly before he sighed and let go of the Lions controls, leaning back in his chair.

“Everything okay?”

Lance was quiet for a moment before looking at his lap, fiddling with his thumbs. “I...I think you’re right.”

“I’m always right, but what about?” Veronica lifted a brow, Lance glaring back at her.

“Y-You know what!” Lance shouted, his face flushing.

“I’m afraid I don’t--”

“About Keith!” Lance shouted, his cheeks turning a darker shade. HIs shoulders lowered slightly, a sigh leaving his lips before he slouched back into his chair, pulling his knees to his chest and lowering his head. “You were right, okay?”

“Lance,” she was heartbroken looking at her brother. He looked more than confused, he looked hurt. Like-like this was a part of him that shouldn’t exist. “You know it’s okay right?”

Lance looked at Veronica as she sat in front of him, placing a hand on his foot. She looked around the floor, trying to find the right words to say. She bit her lip before pushing up her glasses and sighing, looking up at her youngest brother.

 

She took in his face.

 

How his eyes had small bags under them like he missed a night of sleep or missed putting on his nightly ritual.

His lips in a small frown that she was all but used to seeing after he returned home. She noticed when he came home his face would be tugged into this sad resting face around the other Paladins and Garrison students and higher-ups, but around other alien races and his family, it would be a grin, not even the sun could out beat.

His wrinkles. She never pegged Lance for wrinkles. He was always bragging about his skin care routine and even put it on her when they were teens once. For two weeks she looked youthful and glowing. But she could see them, see them in the corners of his eyes and in between his eyebrows and softly lining his forehead.

She noticed most of all how tense he was.

How his body language pushed her off. His arms held to his chest to protect his heart and arms around him to keep him together. Her Lance, her youngest brother-skin hygienist-big eyed and wide-smiled Lance was nowhere to be seen on him. He looked more like a war veteran then her brother.

But he was a war veteran, and he was most likely still coming to terms with it. She wouldn’t doubt him to be.

Veronica opened her mouth and closed it, watching as Lance tensed when her mouth opened and detensed when she closed it.

He was protecting himself.

She saw her little brother who was always willing to come crying to her scared to open up.

She was left wondering how much space had hurt him.

 

“Veronica?” He questioned her name. She looked from the floor to him. “How old am I, to Earth’s standards?”

She traced his eyes, how they seemed void of emotions.

Veronica knew her brother knew she wasn’t an idiot, hell she got into the garrison for her 163 IQ, and he got in because of his 140 IQ.

“Lance--”

“How old would I be?”

“Around twenty-one but I’m not letting you go off and throw your life away because you’re scared of liking a _boy_ .” The last word made Lance flinch, and Veronica sighed, patting her brother's knee. “Lance, you’re a smart boy. You’re so smart and brave and I can’t believe you fought a war at seventeen when you should have been sneaking out of the Garrison. I don’t know a lot about what happened in space, but I know you’re traumatized and different. You put on this fake smile around people and other galactic races to show them you’re not scared, but I know you are. God Lanc,e you’re my little brother, I know you’re _terrified_.”

“Veronica--”

“You came crying to me as a toddler because of monsters under your bed and then when it came to heartbreaks. You put on this whole facade and I hate seeing you so down. Lance, _I love you_.” He looked at his sister, watching as tears brimmed her eyelids. “Hearing you actually died in space is horrifying. Does Mom know? Dad? Marco? Luis?”

Lance shook his head. “No one’s asked.”

Veronica's heart shattered.

She felt the first few tears slid down her cheeks before she saw Lance unravel himself to whip them away with his thumb. She grabbed his hand, holding it to his cheek, letting the tears fall from her cheeks. “Lance I love you so much. You’re my little brother who I thought I lost. Nothing scared me more than the Garrison telling me you went missing. I felt guilty because of it.”

“Veronica--”

“Lance,” she said louder than him. “You died. You’ve fought in a war you were forced to be in and you’re scared of a little crush?” Her laughter at the end breaks his heart because he knows she forced it. “God Lance out of everything you’ve done, this is the last thing you should be scared of.” She let go of his hand, but he held it at her cheek for a moment before moving it down to her shoulder, shrinking down to her and curling his head into her shoulder, clenching his fists in the fabric on her back. She held him in her lap, softly smiling at her little brother returning at the small hiccups coming from his lips.

“I-I know I shouldn’t but this--its--I-I can’t.”

“Lance,” Veronica spoke softly. “It’s Keith. He’s your leader and trusts you with everything. He voted for you to get out of that realm for crying out loud!”  
“He said he didn’t want to spend eternity with me.”

“From what I’ve seen about him, actions speak louder than words,” she lifted Lance's head, wiping away the tears on his cheeks. “Talk to him.”

“What if--”

“If you rely too much on the past you’ll never be able to focus on the future,” Veronica softly smiled. “Talk to him.”

Lance felt his heart hammer against his ribcage. “Okay.”

 

~.~.~.~.~

 

Lance, in all his mind, body and soul, didn’t know why he agreed. He didn’t know how Veronica, his over observant, brilliant, know-it-all big sister, got him to stand outside the Red Lion with her pretending to check out Red while Keith stood in front of him. And he didn’t know why he was acting like a school girl confession a lifelong crush, because he was pulling on the end of his Garrison shirt while staring at his feet.

“You okay Lance?” Keith asked, crossing his arms and Lance felt himself tense up.

“I uh, need to tell ya something.” Lance scratched the back of his neck, looking up at Keith.

“What’s up?” Keith asked, stepping closer slightly. Lance felt his heart pound harder. “If you think you’re stepping down I won’t let you.”

“I-It’s not that,” Lance shook his head, meeting Keiths eyes slowly. “I… I…” Lance couldn’t get the words that were on the tip of his tongue out. His mouth wasn’t working, and it refused to.

“You what?” Keith edged on, a small bit of blush edging onto his cheeks.

“I uhm...admire you?” Lance hated himself for saying it like that. It sounded like a question, and it was the wrong word. He looked at Keith, watching as blush hit his cheeks hard and a surprised look smacked onto his face. “L-Like admire you more than a team leader.”

“O-Oh,” Keith scratched the back of his neck. “I admire you too, more than my teammate.”

“C-Cool.”

“A-Awesome.”

“Sweet.”

“Neat.”

They fell into a silence and Veronica looked over at them, rolling her eyes. “C-Chill.”

“Chill? Really?” Keith chuckled and Lance felt his face flush.

“I-I don’t know okay! I break girls hearts so knowing that--”

“Lance you…” Words failed Keith at this moment, and he hated that they did. He hated that he was bad with words but at least he had actions right? Keith held out his hand to Lance, who slowly looked at Keith from his hand to his face. “Why don’t I go show you how to properly fight with a sword.”

“I...okay,” Lance mumbled, slowly taking Keith’s hand.

Veronica softly smiled as she watched the two walk away, watching as Lance looked back at her and gave her a small grin before disappearing into the Garrison together.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is like...very underwhelming for an ending but its very on point for them if that makes sense
> 
> Like Lance would, of course, have a hard time admitting it because he grew from hating this guy to feeling romantically for him and Keith isn't good with words, and we've noticed that so I tried to give this a realistic ending


End file.
